Kenya’s President William Ruto expects to sign a trade deal with the United States by the end of 2025 and is pushing for a five-year extension of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), a 25-year-old pact granting qualifying African nations duty-free access to the US market.
Ruto will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss AGOA renewal, emphasizing its importance in expanding and deepening trade between Africa and the US.
The proposed trade deal would provide Kenya with access to the US market for apparel, textiles, and agricultural products like tea, coffee, and avocados, while exploring new areas such as mining and fishing.
This would be the first trade agreement of its kind between a sub-Saharan African nation and Washington.
Ruto also highlighted Kenya’s robust trade agreements with partners like China, which has removed all tariffs on Kenyan agricultural products. However, he noted that Kenya still seeks to balance its trade with all partners, including the US.
In addition to trade discussions, Ruto proposed a meeting next month with the US, Qatar, the East African Community, and the South African Development Community to address the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He also called for more support for Kenya’s mission in Haiti, where armed gangs have taken control of almost all of the capital Port-au-Prince, displacing 1.3 million people and causing widespread hunger.
